Scream Queens Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Mommie Dearest
Caralynn Lippo
at
.
Updated at
.
Guys, it finally happened! Grace wasn't unbearably boring!
Scream Queens Season 1 Episode 8 primarily focused on Grace Gardner and, surprisingly for me (as someone who has been nonplussed by her character), this wasn't as painful as I assumed it would be.
In fact, though it certainly wasn't as exciting as Scream Queens Season 1 Episode 7, this was a very strong episode, particularly at the just-beyond mid-season mark where we are now.
We all knew the day was coming. Grace has been circling the truth of her parentage, and inching ever closer to the idea that she herself was the daughter of the dead-in-a-bathtub 1995 Kappa sister, pretty much all season. Thank god Scream Queens avoided taking the predictable route and didn't set Grace to be the dead girl's baby.
I probably would've tuned out right then and there if that had been the reveal.
Of course, this reveal led to more questions that answers. In investigating the Hag of Shady Lane (in an attempt to definitively uncover the identity of the dead Kappa girl), Grace came across the information that Gigi was the Hag. Isn't is super convenient how the crazy asylum painter is so darn coherent?
It's almost like, "what the heck is this person even doing in an asylum?"
Anyway, Crazy Painter Lady gave Grace a painting depicting Gigi with twin babies – a boy and a girl, she clarified.
There's no doubt at this point (unless the show pulls a massive red herring switcheroo off on us) that we know the identities of two of the three murderers.
Gracie! Perfect timing, I was just about to cook us up my mother's famous falafel enchiladas. It's an old family recipe which fits perfectly with the sort of vague, enigmatic quality of my skin tone.
Gigi
One is Gigi, who most recently appeared costumed as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia when the murderous trio went to attack Dean Munsch.
That scene, by the way, was one of the greatest of the season so far, hands down. There were so many amazing bits – from Jamie Lee Curtis' homage to her own mother in that Psycho-inspired shower scene, to Dean Munsch's hilarious verbal and physical smackdown of "Scalia," to her speech about having learned to fight from her Eurasian lover. It was all wonderful and absurd and ridiculous. Perfectly Scream Queens.
The homosexual lifestyle is not destructive to the fabric of American society. The Voting Rights Act should be authorized in every state. And the Affordable Care Act does not require people to eat broccoli!
Dean Munsch [to "Antonin Scalia"]
The second killer is clearly the recently-resurfaced, now faux-bearded Boone, who reappeared at the very end of "Mommie Dearest." Here, he ranted to the third, yet-unknown accomplice about Gigi, establishing that she was the weak link and needed to be "taken care of."
Between Gigi's bitchout of her accomplice on the phone last time and Boone railing on Gigi here, it's clear that the murderers themselves are not quite on the same page. In fact, it seems now that Boone and the third accomplice may try to turn on and kill Gigi, since she FUBAR'd the Dean Munsch murder and is threatening all their plans, in their eyes.
This makes for a really interesting complication, on top of the already incredibly complicated plot. And remember, we still don't even know what the trio's murder motive is, beyond simply "revenge"!
My hunch is that Boone and the third unseen accomplice are the twins, born to the dead Kappa girl, and Gigi is either related to them all or was a close friend of the deceased mom. They are seeking revenge on Kappa itself for... I don't know, reasons.
While Grace isn't the baby of dead '95 Kappa girl, she is the child of another character we've already seen – the obnoxious 1995 Kappa president who crudely dismissed her bleeding-to-death sorority sister because she didn't want to miss "Waterfalls."
The scene where Chanel crudely revealed Grace's mother's nature to her was genuinely moving. Skyler Samuels did a great job throughout "Mommie Dearest," and she was given a bit more challenging material than usual to play around with. You could really feel Grace's quiet devastation at learning that her mother was not at all who she thought she was.
Meanwhile, there is certainly something weird going on with Grace's father. Grace, when confronting him about Gigi being the crazy Hag of Shady Lane, hit upon the fact that since her father went to the university where he met her mother, Gigi must have known both of her parents at that time.
What's Wes Gardner's secret? Is he just super blinded by his love/desire for Gigi and her Fresh Prince-inspired wardrobe? Or does he know more than he's letting on? His non-reaction to Gigi's suggestion about committing Grace has me leaning towards the latter.
On the other side of things, Chanel led the other Chanels in their collective quest to prove that Zayday and/or Grace are the Red Devil killers. Chanel #3 recruited Denise in her mission and Chanel recruited two Scotland Yard detectives.
Denise, rather than actually gathering evidence against her self-professed enemy Zayday, ended up spending most of her time stealing Chanel #5's clothes and setting out to usurp Chanel's leadership by appointing herself Kappa house mother.
Weirdly enough, Denise proved surprisingly effective – she almost immediately convinced Chanel to apologize to Grace for letting the cat out of the bag about Grace's mother in the cruelest way imaginable.
Granted, she accomplished this by threatening to steal Chanel's boyfriend, but in the end it's all about the results and not the method used, right?
That's right, Chanel. You will say you are sorry to Grace and start changing the way you treat the ladies at Kappa house or Mama Denise will take your man.
Denise
Speaking of Chanel's boyfriend: we caught only the briefest glimpse of Chad, yet again. Like the goat scene in "Beware of Young Girls," Chad's all too brief appearance still managed to be a standout in its absurd hilarity.
I've said it before and it bears repeating: Emma Roberts and Glen Powell play so well off of one another in these roles. The Night of a Thousand Compliments shtick was so ridiculous, I actually felt a tinge of sympathy for Chad.
Chanel: Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with my boyfriend Chad Radwell. Tonight's our night of a thousand compliments night.
Chanel #3: What's that mean?
Chanel: We sit across from each other fully clothed and he compliments me a thousand times.
Despite the fact that nearly every single character (save Denise) has gone out of their way insisting that Zayday is certainly not the killer, I'm really starting to consider that Zayday might somehow be the third accomplice to Boone and Gigi.
The timing of Jennifer's death (right after the candle-loving vlogger blurted out Zayday's secret revenge-against-rich-girls story) was really suspect. We cut directly from angry, vengeful Zayday to Jennifer being stabbed through the head That cut was absolutely purposeful. Could kind, ambitious Zayday really be one of the killers?
Stray Observations:
- The Scotland Yard detectives uncovered Chanel #5's active plotting to murder Chanel. Chanel, in true Chanel fashion, straight up brushed it off. She just can't be bothered with #5's nonsense, after all.
- Speaking of which, if #5 somehow manages to successfully off Chanel, I will be furious. Of all the current characters, I think I've begun to dislike whiny, overacted #5 more than just about all of the others.
- Not quite sure how Oliver Hudson got through that staring-in-the-mirror intensely bit without cracking up laughing. It was so wonderfully melodramatic.
- Is this Chanel/Grace peace agreement real? Permanent? Semi-permanent? I really doubt that Chanel will undergo any sort of severe personality change (despite her claims that she's still "in progress") so my money is on a very temporary truce between the two young women.
What were your thoughts on the "Mommie Dearest" reveals? Any idea who the third accomplice might be? Is Gigi going to make it out alive or be taken down by her very own accomplices turning on her?
Be sure to comment with your thoughts and remember to watch Scream Queens online here at TV Fanatic to catch up on what you've missed.
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
